


More Than You Bargained For

by bookishnerdhero



Category: Champions (Comics), Ms. Marvel (Comics), Nova (Comics)
Genre: Awkwardness, F/M, Fluff, Leader Kamala, Protectiveness, Secret Identity, Secret Relationship, Worried Sam Alexander
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-05-31 14:22:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19427746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookishnerdhero/pseuds/bookishnerdhero
Summary: Kamala and Sam's relationship is a secret! Why? Well, for one thing they'd both rather the rest of the Champions not know about it and, another thing, they don't want to seem unprofessional as heroes. The last thing they need is to be set aside as love sick teenagers. Meanwhile, the other Champions are curious about Sam and his apparent new girlfriend that Miles came across in his Social Media account.





	1. A Secret

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second Ms. Marvel x Nova fanfic I did since I’ve had a few people review/comment on “Don’t Panic! No, Not yet!” in FFN saying I should continue, but that story’s done as a one shot. 
> 
> Decided to use another line from the lyrics of a Fall Out Boy song, thinking maybe I could make it a thing for if I continue to make Ms. M x Nova fics. This one’s from “Sugar We’re Going Down”.
> 
> But anyway, on with the fic! Hope you could forgive me for any Out of Character-ness and whatever that may not be consistent with general canon comic information. As usual, pretend it’s an AU if that happens. 
> 
> Disclaimer: Again, I don't own any of the Marvel characters or the Avengers, not Ms. Marvel or Nova or any of our Champions and villains. I don't own Fall Out Boy's song either. I just love them and enjoy being in their fandoms.

**Jersey City, Saturday, 7:34 AM**

Kamala sat alone in a corner Diner booth, typing away and squinting at her laptop as she waited. Even as she let her fingers hover over the keys, thinking of the best dialogue for Storm in her latest fanfic update, she kept glancing every now and then at the double doors. He should be here any minute now, walking through those doors in casual attire. She’d wanted to seem chill about it, which was why she was writing fanfiction and didn’t really bother with just a plain shirt, an old coat and a hat. There would at least be a laptop propped in between them.

She sighed a frustrated sigh she didn’t know she’d been holding. The soda she’d ordered had already been slurped away as she tried to ease her nerves though her food was left untouched. They’d never went out both in civilian before. What if someone sees them and asks who he was- _a…friend_? Where he’s from – _uhm…Arizona_? How’d they’d met and what he was doing all the way in Jersey? How’d he even get here? He went all the way from Arizona just to see her?

She gulped.

Any minute now.

A jet black haired boy pushed through the heavy glass doors of the Diner, walked in and instantly spotted her. There was hardly anyone there to begin with, only a couple of seniors and a woman who came from jogging. It was too early on a Saturday and they decided the date would be Breakfast and he’d be sneaking to fly off before his mother could notice he was gone.

He made an awkward smile, so unlike the cool and confident one he usually had plastered on his face when he had the helmet on, and approached her. He was wearing a brown checkered polo over a blue shirt and baggy cargo pants. He helmet hair which he kept messing through with his fingers. He looked like an average teenager.

They both did.

“Hey,” he said, finally putting up a grin as he leaned on her table. “Fancy meeting you here.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just sit down.”

He sat across her and she tried not to seem like she was stalling looking at him by fumbling with the keys on her laptop. Save Draft. Saved. Nope. She wasn’t closing it. She was fine this way.

“Since when did you wear glasses?”

Her hand darted for the frames, realizing she’d been wearing them and quickly took them off, setting it down next to her untouched food. “Just when I’m using the computer. Protective lenses and stuff.”

“Ah.”

There was a way too obvious awkward silence. He shifted in his seat, waited and then pointed it out.

“Is this going to be too awkward or should we just…”he scratched at the back of his neck and pretended to be looking at the menu over the counter. “I don’t know, _not_ do this? Maybe this was a bad idea and I shouldn’t have suggested it.”

“No, it’s fine. I mean, I said yes and what kind of a jerk would I be if I said _no_ now? Make you fly all the way back home?” she kept flitting her gaze from his face to her laptop screen as she talked. His eyes are really, really blue and distracting. And annoying. At least with the helmet on she didn’t have to see it, but with all his focus on talking to her and the topic they’re discussing it was hard to keep her cool.

“True.” He was quick to consider with amusement. The smile on his face was easy and he reached his hand across the table and lightly bumped his knuckles against hers. She’d been tapping her fingers on the table up until then and she felt an unwanted blush creep up her cheeks. “I don’t really mind flying all the way here. I _did_ want to see you.”

She tried pouting in an attempt to stop the blush from spreading and furrowed her eyebrows, feigning disgust and failing. “Stop doing that, you jerk!”

“What? What am I doing?” he smirked.

“That! Laughing, smiling, saying sweet, corny things! It doesn’t work on me,” she lied and her voice was already pitched almost uncharacteristically. “Just order something already. I’m trying to finish a fanfiction and you’re distracting me!”

“I distract you?”

She glared at him.

“Alright, alright. Ordering. You obviously waited up for me and haven’t eaten.”

“Sam, shut up!”

He laughed.

**Brentwood, California, Freelancers Compound, Saturday –:--**

A tall, dark haired girl paced back and forth the Freelancer Compound’s living room. She clenched and unclenched her fists as if considering something. The girl had an athletic build, muscles rippled from her bare arms and her armored torso caught the light from the sun passing through the glass doors that lead to their pool. She paused and listed her head, crossing her arms with a quirk of an eyebrow. “Well? What do they want? We can’t just accept anonymous emails-“

“They said they’re willing to pay upfront,” a guy with spiky blonde hair and a flame designed beach shirt said, balancing a laptop on his knees and adjusting his shades. “And that they’re willing to bet it’ll be in our interest to work with them.”

“Our interest?” the girl peered over from behind the couch he was sitting on. “Why would we go to the trouble of hijacking a bus full of nerds on their way to a comicon?”

“They said they wanted to get attention,” the guy said, turning his head a little sideways. “The _Champions’_ attention. They’ve sent more details about their plans, only those involving us, and they said we could trust them.”

“Hmph,” the girl rounded the couch and sat herself, cross-legged with an arm over the arm rest and her knuckles pressed against her cheek. She made herself comfortable. “I’m listening.”

**Jersey City**

“So, what do you have planned?” Sam asked as coolly as he can, although his voice kind of croaked a little and he faked a cough to disguise his giddiness. They were holding hands. “Kamala.”

It nice to say her name out loud instead of just thinking about it. She led them out of the Diner and they were walking down the sidewalk. They’d just passed a small grocery store with its fruit display out and a kind looking old lady sweeping by the door when she turned to him and said, “Actually, nothing. I didn’t think this through.”

He choked on a laugh. “Seriously?”

“I only thought I could show you the view from the rooftops, but at noon it’s not much of a view and it’s too early.”

“The view? Really?” he arched an eyebrow at her, voice dripping with sarcasm. As Nova, he’d seen plenty. In fact, he’d already scoped enough of Jersey City just looking for the address of the Diner she’d given him, while using google maps. “Gee, I’ll get excited about that.” She yanked her hand away and elbowed him in the ribs.

“I’m trying, Sam Alexander! Shut up!” he was starting to get the impression she liked saying his real name out loud too. “Anyway, we’re definitely steering clear away from the Circle Q. My friends are there.”

“We’ve only officially started dating now and you’re already ashamed of me.” he said, monotone with a straight face. She looked more struck that he should’ve been.

“It’s not that!” she said, defensively. “I just don’t want to get into explaining things! Bruno knows Nova and Ms. Marvel, but he doesn’t know you’re _you_. He doesn’t even know…all this.” She gestured with her hands.

He smirked, mimicking her gesture. “What is _all this_?”

“What happened between us.”

Actually, he’d told nobody else either. How was he supposed to explain it to his friends at school who don’t know he’s Nova? Right. He has a girlfriend in Jersey City. No one would believe him, of course. No one could believe he’s Nova to begin with, much less that he’s dating Ms. Marvel.

They’d never told the other Champions either. It was a long story and they were surely going to bombard them with questions and they were both still in that phase where it’s honestly still too embarrassing to share. Not to mention the fact that Ms. Marvel kept wringing her hands about professionalism and how it would cloud both their judgments, yada yada, they were team mates and she was technically the leader and she shouldn’t have to feel obligated to worry about him, bla bla bla. He could take care of himself and he was damn sure he wouldn’t have to worry about her either. It was one of the reasons he’d started having a crush on her, she _was_ pretty badass.

They’d decided to act like nothing happened when they came back to regroup with the Champions after their long absence, both with separate things going on. He couldn’t exactly contact her from space, but when he came back to Earth she was one of the first to know and he was given up to speed on what’s happened to her. So when Ms. Marvel had to separate them all into two groups, she purposefully kept herself away from Nova and he acted unfazed. In chat room meetings, they’d have a separate private message chat box opened.

Although, it was all surreal and he’d been having more trouble than she is hiding his cheeriness from the group. At one point Cyclops even mused that he’d been in a good mood and asked what was up with him. Generic lie, he thought and shrugged making something up about good test grades.

How did this all happen anyway? It almost seemed too good. It was stupid to think, but he really cherished every moment – now _that_ was something he would never tell any of the Champions out loud. Maybe it started with almost meeting, face to face, in the museum as Sam and Kamala. Or maybe it was after that video speech he made.

He held her hand again. “Then I guess we’re still a secret.”

**Brooklyn, New York City, Saturday, 9:45 PM**

“Who in the who-haha- is that?” Miles exclaimed, shoving his phone closer to his face and squinting at the picture of a girl, laughing and in side view, in Sam’s today Stories. The image turned away in favor of the next which was of his little sister grinning and holding up a drawing of Thor. He tried to swipe back before another picture loads and held his finger over the screen, but Sam had already deleted the picture for some reason.

* * *


	2. Sam's Girlfriend

**Carefree, Arizona, Sunday, 11:34 AM**

"Kaelynn, you ask your older brother what he's smiling at and why he won't put his phone down. I've been trying to get his attention all morning," Eva Alexander told her daughter with a conspiratorial wink. The little girl giggled, covering her mouth with her hands and whispered. "Sam's got a girlfriend!" She glanced with a mischievous smile at Sam who was sitting in the living room, phone definitely still in his face but he could see her in his line of vision. His ears had perked up at his mom's mention of him and because Kaelynn didn't really know how to whisper when she's excited about information. He heard the laughter.

"Does he now?" Eva put her hands on her hips, projecting her voice and acting like she really had no idea, just as Sam walked into the kitchen.

"Alright, what are you guys laughing at?"

The girl giggled more and ducked behind her mom before gushing again, "You have a girlfriend!"

Sam took a step back and fought a smile as his little sister grinned at him, faking bewilderment. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw him talking to someone using face chat in his room this morning. It was a girl!"

Sam tensed. He didn't notice she'd been eavesdropping.

"Samuel Alejandro, are you keeping secrets from your mother?" Eva teased. Oh, she had no idea. There were enough secrets from being Nova that he skipped telling her.

Sam made an exasperated expression and groaned. "I have a lot of friends that are girls, Kaelynn. Doesn't automatically mean she's my girlfriend. We were just talking about a project."

"Is it Ms. Marvel?" Kaelynn said, hopeful. Sam's face suddenly felt as if it was draining of color and turning red simultaneously. She only said this because she was a fan of Ms. Marvel and had been shipping her and Nova, but for a moment he thought she somehow figured it out from seeing Kamala in the face chat.

"No, no," he quickly waved her off. "Just a girl from... school," he lied. "And I told you to stop it with the Ms. Marvel x Nova shipping."

Kaelynn shook her head stubbornly, bouncing at the balls of her feet. "It was, too, your girlfriend! He was making a goofy face and saying 'I miss you'!"

To his horror, Sam's blush intensified. How the heck did she hear all that? He suddenly felt that chatting and texting was smarter and that no secret was safe, even the superhero stuff.

"Oh, really?" his mother crossed her arms.

"Well, whatever. It's not like I haven't gone on dates before and you shouldn't eavesdrop!" she stuck his tongue out at him and made a face, which he mimicked, not so maturely, back at her.

"It wasn't Carrie either, mommy. He's moved on!"

Sam stared incredulously, "Where is she getting all this?" he looked at his mom who shrugged.

"Well, girlfriend or no, you do seem to be inspired lately." Eva placed a hand on his shoulder and beamed. She was glad that despite his being a superhero he was still able to find some normalcy, he could tell. He had more things keeping him grounded instead of always gallivanting in space.

"And I'm proud of you, Sam. You've really matured these past few months." She was talking about all the things he'd told her from the last adventure and solving issues with the Champions.

Sam's lips inched up a bit at one corner. "Thanks, mom," he said, before turning towards the back door, heading for the garage. "But inspired, mom, really?"

It was a cheesy thought and he wanted to act like it was no big deal, but it was. He was finding his place in the superhero gig, school's been more or less bearable, his mom and sister couldn't be happier these days, though he's still back to square one looking for his father after that clone issue, they get by. He had faith he'll find him. Things were relatively okay. To top it all of he was in a relationship with Ms. Marvel. The girl he'd always admired and the person who had amazed and inspired him from day one.

Okay, maybe not totally day one. And not after she'd called him a jerk and he'd messed up and he was confused about their status as friends for a while there. She also did have a tendency to have a Captain Marvel bias, almost clouding her judgment, and would jump at an opportunity to mention her hero. But all in all, yes, she was inspiring and really cool.

Things were great for Sam. It could only get better, right?

**Champions HQ, Later that afternoon**

"If that was your idea of training...please, can we never let Cyclops be in charge of training again?" Spider-Man panted, hands on his knees and begging for a time out.

"Simulation off," Hulk said and the holographic images of burning garbage, flying scraps of metal and stalking shadows of mega-mutants disintegrated. Nova had been caught, mid-battlecry and staring up at where giant falling debris was supposed to fall on him. He fell on his back with a thud. Viv had been floating, in an attempt to scan the simulation for her friends, while Ms. Marvel's hands were enlarged, pushing away what seemed to have been a moving, half-crushed tow truck.

Scott, a younger Cyclops in the flesh, was smirking from a raised platform where he was hunched by Amadeus' fancy computer. "I was being creative. You wanted a challenge."

"We wanted a challenge, not a Nightmare," Sam said, standing up and pulling at his shoulder that creaked and ached.

Cyclops shrugged. "Same thing."

Hulk slowly shrunk back into Amadeus and bounded towards the computer to type something in. "Well, I guess that's good enough for today. Ms. Marvel?"

Ms. Marvel had been approaching Nova from behind, who was still nursing his arm. Unable to fend off a quick flash of concern in her face when Amadeus glanced at her. She halted and jumped. "Er, what? Oh...yeah, yeah. We're good for today. We can take a break."

This caused the young genius to look at his teammate. "You okay, Nova?"

He looked surprised at the attention. "Yeah, of course. Shoulder just ached."

Ms. Marvel changed her direction and started walking towards the computers instead, wincing a bit at wanting to check on him. She'd been aware that he was in the worst predicament among the group in that simulation before Spider-Man decided he's had enough. She'd had her hands busy and at that moment was also panicked and a little torn between wanting to lunge in to shield him or let him solve his own problems. It WAS only a simulation after all, but trust Sam to overexert himself. He could be clumsy at the most inopportune moments.

"You were pretty sloppy just now," Scott commented at Nova. "You almost got the fake civilian crushed before you took the weight and that could've been your own demise."

"It was hard to stay focused with the all the high pitched screaming. Where was that even supposed to come from?"

"I don't know! The zombies!" Scott folded his arms defensively and jerked his head at the computer. "I'm still new to this holograph mumbo jumbo. Be glad I didn't just click at random like you did the last time."

"Zombies?"

"He's been catching up on horror movies," Spider-Man said. "And TV series. Although, I have no idea where he got zombies screaming like opera singers in the background."

"It's for effect and it got you all spooked. The stakes are high at a real battle."

"He has a point. It is better we are prepared for the unexpected," Viv said matter of fact. Scott gave Spider-Man and Nova a triumphant look as if to say 'See? I was right and you're all a bunch of babies'.

"Well, let's hope we'll never have to encounter anything too much like that," Ms. Marvel said, although she had to admit, she did find the simulation exciting. That is, of course, until spotting Nova in near fake-death. Somehow he could be a lot more altruistic than she thought. Clumsiness aside.

Somehow as Spider-Man continued to elaborate the number of unrealistic scenarios in Cyclop's simulation, to which he keeps shrugging off as "for effect", Nova sat himself on the table next to her. He rolled his shoulders, grunting and swearing under his breath, obviously more than an ache.

"You okay?"

"Could've dislocated an arm, but what else is new?" he took off his Nova helmet unceremoniously and balanced it on one leg, while he lifted the other up the table. He leaned back.

She pursed her lips and tried to casually give him a sideways glance, checking that the others are still in a heated argument, before whispering.

"Were you distracted just now or what?"

"What?" he adjusted his voice to a whisper as well, running his fingers at the nape of his hair. "Why are you whispering?"

"Not that I'm not impressed by your act of heroism, but could you not fake-nearly-die on training like that again, you really had me worried."

"Aw, really? I'm sorry," except he was smiling, and she elbowed his knee.

"Stop smiling, you goof!" she hissed, but she had to bite her lip to stop too. "Seriously though, you're usually more attentive than that."

"I am attentive!" he said, defensively and a little annoyed because he second-guessed himself for a split second. "And you don't have to worry, Ms. M. I've been on worse scrapes than Cyclops' Fun House Imagination World." He had a point. He's been in space and battled actual fleets of aliens. So he tells her, anyway. Still.

He huffed. Went quiet. She sensed he was feeling a bit insulted, but just as she was about to say something he sighed.

"Alright. I was...am, distracted. I wasn't focused and something was bothering me."

She allowed herself a moment to look at him. His head was cast down and he was fumbling with his thumbs over his Nova helmet.

"What is it?"

"What could go wrong? I mean, I shouldn't be waiting around for something bad to happen, but I'm just uneasy. I don't know. Can I really be this lucky?"

His gaze was at the computer monitor where a newsfeed had been opened up and Amadeus was looking through reports and breaking news articles.

"Sam..." she placed her hand on his knee without thinking.

He snorted, shook his head and shifted in his seat. "Silly. Where'd that even come from? It's nothing." he took her hand in his, let their fingers linger for a moment then letting go. "Besides, I was really also, kind of, practicing asking you if you'd like to watch a movie with me after training, but then the fake-building started falling."

"Seriously?" she crossed her arms. "Are you kidding me?"

"And whether I should put my arm over your seat, you know, fake a yawn? And then you'd lean on me or something."

"No way. Besides, I have a group chat with later with the Captain Marvel fans community. We're all going to comicon together. So my answer is 'no'," she pushed herself away from the table, chin up. "And don't be thinking of stuff like that during training! What kind of heroes would that make us? We need to be focused! Unwavering and 100% serious!"

She expected him to complain, but when she tilted her head back he was still just sitting there, sporting a small crooked smile and his eyes narrowed a fraction. The look in his face was the sweetest thing and she couldn't figure it out.

"What?" she felt as if there was something in her face.

"Nothing," he mouthed before putting a finger over his lips and glancing at the others who were now arguing about anime which still has yet to watch enough of. He winked at her and she tried not seem fazed by it as she approached them.

"I don't know. It's really hard to catch up! Some of these anime already have, like, 700 episodes not mention tv series that seem interesting. I'm still figuring out what a Netflix is." Cyclops said, hiding his embarrassment with irritability.

Amadeus tried to hide a laugh behind his hand as Viv started to explain. As if he just remembered something, Spider-man jumped up and slapped his hands together, startling Ms. Marvel who had just stood behind him.

"Sam!" he swiveled around suddenly, Ms. Marvel just barely dodging his flailing arms.

"Yo! What?" there was a fss sound from where Sam was, probably having opened one of Amadeus' sodas.

"Dude! I just remembered! Sorry, Ms. M," he bowed apologetically before bounding excitedly toward him. "I've been meaning to ask you something!"

Ms. Marvel leaned over Amadeus' chair, pretending to be studying the monitor which now only had a dashboard full of cat posts and videos. Amadeus scrolled down impatiently, making a point to do an innocent "How'd these even get here?" face. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ears in favor of craning her neck back to listen. Spider-man tried to his voice down to almost a whisper, but his excitement made some words more than audible.

"So, you want to tell me who you were with last Saturday?"

"Last Saturday?" Sam pulled his head back and twisted his face in confusion. "What do you-" and then it hit him. He shut his trap and his eyes shifted uneasily at the attention. "I-I mean, what are you talking about? Saturday? What, I mean, which Saturday?"

Ms. Marvel resisted the urge to slap her palm over her face. He is anything but subtle. She tried to keep her eyes trained on the screen just as Amadeus clicked on a link someone shared to a blog articles about superhero conspiracies. "Things they come up with are pretty amusing," he said with a chuckle to Scott who squinted at a headline saying he was baby Cyclops, an alien, from another dimension.

"Last Saturday. I saw your Pictagram Stories on that day. You were with a girl,"

"What? I thought I deleted that!"

The urge to atomic face palm intensifies. He posted a picture of her? She kept a straight face and bit her lower lip, right eye twitching.

"Too late. I already saw it. She's really pretty and you were doing that Stolen-Holding-Hands shot too."

"Whoa, wait. Sam has a girlfriend?" Amadeus snapped his head around, cutting his and Scott's headline reading game short. Now the rest of the Champions were interested and Ms. Marvel could allow herself to look - while fending off a tirade of nervous twitches.

"Er...what exactly did you see?" Sam's shoulders went stiff, obviously trying his best to avoid her glare and everyone else's keen interest. "And Why does everyone keep reacting as if it CAN'T just happen?"

"What's her name?" Viv asked, suddenly beside Sam and Spider-Man.

"Let's check out her Social Media profile and judge whether she's too cute for Sam," Amadeus suggested.

"Wait, I thought Sam had a crush on Ms. Marvel," Scott asked, suddenly giving the room some dead air. Silence ensued. Everyone stared at him. No one caught the split-second, nervous side glance Ms. Marvel and Nova gave each other.

"Whaaat?" Amadeus said, jaw dropping and head slowly turning to Sam and then at Ms. Marvel.

"Did no one else pick up on that? I thought it was common knowledge," The young Cyclops said, running his fingers through his hair. "Whoops, my bad."

"And you're supposed to be a genius," Viv said.

"No I don't! She is sooo not my type," Sam said with a terribly forced fake laugh. "No offense, Ms. M."

"I couldn't care less," she said, doing a better job at acting than he did, but she made a mental note to ask him exactly what his "type" is. "We're just friends."

"That's what I thought too! I could've sworn Sam had a thing for Ms. M!" Spider-Man said, completely ignoring her last statement and nodding at Scott. He placed his hands on his hips.

"I did too," Viv cupped her chin with her fingers. "He had been staring at her with a less than obvious hint of interest and infatuation in more than one occasion. I suspect Ms. Marvel would've been aware."

"What?" Sam jerked his head at her direction, looking defensive. Ms. Marvel could see the tinge of red. "I do not stare at her with a hint of infatuation!"

"But so much for confessions. What a way to finally clear that out, Cyclops."

"Nice one, Slim." Amadeus smirked.

"What?" Cyclops said, confused.

"So, who is this girl, Sam?" Spider-Man pressed. "Cuz' I definitely saw someone."

All attention went back to Sam.

"Sh-she, er..." Sam scratched at the back of his neck, trying to avoid their gazes but finding they've surrounded him. He couldn't exactly look at Ms. Marvel for fear something in their look might give it away. But though his mind raced, he couldn't think of what else to say and his little sister's taunts before just kept popping up. "She's erm...my girlfriend? From school." He added.

Oh boy, here we go. Ms. Marvel thought.


	3. Dodging Bullets

"That's all." Sam fell back on his bed and rested his arm over his eyes. "There really isn't anything else to talk about."

"There are plenty of things still to talk about!" Miles pressed. Sam could hear him getting exasperated on the other end of the phone. The other Champions may have let him slide from spilling more details about his mysterious girlfriend with his excuse - I just remembered, my...er, mom said I have to...pick up the, er, groceries from the grocery store. I mean, buy the groceries. First I have to go there and actually look for...y'know."

But it didn't work on Miles who had his phone number and who had flooded him with pesky text messages once he got home. He was seriously curious and it was apparently eating him up.

"Like, her name for example? I get why you'd want to keep it from them - from Viv and Amadeus who could probably download her whole internet history if they wanted- but me? Come on, I thought we were superhero best friends!"

Sam swallowed, sat up. Touche, Miles. Touche. He'd put himself on the spot and honestly, making things up as he went along wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. Sam had been busy trying not to look at Ms. M, while wondering what would happen if the others actuslly looked up whatever random name he'd give them.

He's not stupid enough to give Kamala's actual name then, shrug and think it wasn't like they'd put two and two together.

"Her name? Hmmm," Sam said "Her name, huh? Didn't I mutter it under my breath earlier?" He tried stalling by walking around the house, to the kitchen. Maybe he could make himself sound busy.

"No, you most certainly have not."

"Oh...well, uh, I...gosh, Miles. You know, I just realized it almost feels unusual to actually have a life oustide of superheroing. A personal life. A private life." He opened the fridge, keeping himself sounding cool and nonchalant.

Miles sighed and then a momentary silence. And there it was. Sam pumped his fist and mouthed a silent "Yes!"

He could sense the guilt and unease as Miles said "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry, Sam. Really."

He took a swig out of a carton of milk. "Didn't say you were, man."

"It's just that, I'm really surprised and confused, even. I thought we were on the same wavelength with Ms. Marvel. You were serious, I could tell!"

Sam took his time with the milk, made one last dramatic gulp and cleared his throat for two more minutes.

"It was just a crush, Miles. Nothing serious," he said. "I mean, it's not like it was ever going to get serious, either. We're just friends."

"Really? Cuz I remember you said-"

"Just friends. Totally, totally just friends," Sam continued, bumping his hip on the fridge for it to close. He had to keep talking the subject away. "And you know her. She's all about the superheroing and, well, so am I. We're professionals." He remembered how serious and proud Kamala had been when saying it and had to grin that he was able to use her words as well. Part of him knew that he meant it-the part about being professional heroes-and knew that even if they were in a relationship, they could take it. The older superheroes do it all the time, right? Dating a fellow hero? Nothing bad or tragic has ever happened out of that, right? It's one thing to have to stay away from loved ones, for wanting to protect them; both being superheroes meant they wouldn't have to worry about each other.

Right?

"Well, okay, then," Miles said. "I'm happy for you. And I won't ask any more."

"Thank you." Sam let out a small sigh of relief as he reentered his room and as he noticed his laptop making a Ding! sound from messenger.

"Guess that means I don't stand a chance with her either. Not that I'm still trying," Miles said and Sam twitched in a little internal panic, not knowing what he would've said or felt if Miles still liked Ms. Marvel that way. He clicked at his laptop, which had gone to sleep mode, and clicked in his password

"Cuz' you know, Spider-woman, my girlfriend from a parallel universe."

"Sure, man. Whatever you say."

Miles ignored the snort that came from the other end and continued, "It has been a while, now that I think about it. The three of us just make pretty good friends, considering."

"Yeah, yeah." Sam nodded, shouldering his phone against his ear while typing back a reply at the message Kamala sent him. "Real good friends. We three. The golden trio."

KK: Going to a Comic Con next weekend, sorry.

He had asked her if she wanted to go someplace, again. He was using up all the time and luck he could get while he was still virtually free from stressful school projects and tests.

SA: Oh. That's okay. Have fun!

"So I'll back you up whenever the others give you a hard time about your secret, Sam."

There was a little guilt when Sam responded, "Thanks, Miles. I really appreciate it."

He just kept telling himself that Miles would unknowingly be doing a solid for both he and Ms. M.

KK: Can we video chat?

"Anyway, I gotta' go," Sam said hastily and adding a lie, "er...babysitting."

"Okay. Bye!"

Miles hung up. Sam let out a 'phew'.

Moments later a video call request popped up. Luckily, his little sister was out with his mom.

* * *

Kamala wanted to look crossed, annoyed, or disappointed when she video called Sam, but it was hard; because a.) he was wearing a cool Thor T-shirt and she had to comment her approval, and b.) his face was too close to the camera that she was momentarily distracted by the lack of the Nova helmet. She had the strange urge to look up variations of the color blue to describe eyes, before noticing the shirt, and then remembering she was cross.

Focus, Kamala.

"I'm sorry. So, so, so sorry! Is it lame if I said I didn't mean to?" It almost could've been lame. But he did look sorry.

"Yes. But you were on the spot and so I guess I could forgive you for panicking. I was panicking too." He was on the spot earlier. Maybe she could've dodged it better, but then she wouldn't have made the mistake of actually saying there was someone. She would've said it was a friend, at least.

"Sorry!"

"Why'd you have to post that picture in the first place? And why use the G word! You made it worse!"

"I panicked!" He said it in a way that made it sound like 'PAH-HAH-nicked', threw his head back dranatically and came back with a pleading face. He put his hands together and pouted. "And yeah, about that, it was when we were walking. I think I must've clicked it and posted by mistake. You do still look good when blurred."

"Har!"

"I deleted it as soon as I found out. People are going to be grilling me about it in school."

"People saw?" She must've looked freaked, but it wasn't like anyone in his school could know her.

"Like, 2 or 3. I'm not exactly popular!" He admited and, when she had to laugh at his self-depreciating comeback, blushed. "So, no worries."

"Aight."

"So," Sam said, face starting to go back to his usual unecessary self-confidence, "we couldn't have discussed this through the chat or you just wanted to see my face?"

Kamala face palmed and then proceeded to massage her temples as she replied, "I wanted you to see me angry when I look at your face. You just had to say 'girlfriend', didn't you?"

"You don't look very angry, though."

She looked up and tried, quirking an eyebrow and pursing her lips, but there was a twitch in which she felt like smiling.

"Okay, it's hard! Your face looks weird with guilt, it's hard not to pity you."

"Gee."

"We need to make a sort of plan or code system when we're around the others," Kamala said, moving closer to the screen and voice turning into a whisper, conspiring.

"Interesting," Sam said, sounding both sarcastic and amused, "So every time you glare at me, I'll take that to mean 'Oh, my gosh, Sam. You're so cute, I cannot even!'" He did a terrible high pitched impersonation of her fangirl voice.

"I do not sound like that."

"Okay, then what? Lay down the rules, Captain."

She smiled, almost too giddily at the nickname and subtle Captain Marvel reference, stopped herself mid-smile and felt her cheeks being funny. He'd thought of it the last time they were together:

'You know, you're kind of like a Captain Marvel yourself, already. With the way you've been leading us so far? You've got what it takes.'

'No, Fam. I'm way too inexperienced. I'm happy I could just be me. And you know, there can only be ONE Captain Marvel!'

'Fam? I thought I was Bae.'

'No. Are you serious?'

She felt like smacking the table with her palm or throwing a pillow at the wall.

"Let me think! Uhm..." She couldn't think.

"You could help me think up a fake backstory for my totally-not-you girlfr-"

"Kamala," said her mother's voice, as she opened her bedroom door. Kamala had slammed her laptop's cover down at the first sound of a syllable, jolting her. "Bruno's waiting downstairs...what are you doing?"

She had her arm over her laptop and her palm in her cheek. "A...er...surprise...Birthday...video. For Bruno. Don't tell him! I thought you were him, Ammi. Ha ha. I'll be there in a minute! P-please get down there before he gets suspicious, Ammi."

Her mother made a weirded-out face, shook her head, and turned away. "I'll tell him you're finishing your homework, then."

"Thank you!"

"You really should be doing them."

"Yes, I will! Thank you!"

The door was closed. She walked over to it and pressed her ear against it, waited, and then ran back to where the laptop was.

"So you've never mentioned it to your mom, either." Sam said, matter of fact; he didn't get End-Called.

"I'm supposed to explain how my boyfriend is some unpopular kid from Carefree, Arizona?"

"Harsh." Sam took a swig out of a can of soda. He had probably gone to the fridge or something. "If we get caught, we met online."

She couldn't even begin to imagine that conversation with her parents. Worse, 'I'm dating, Nova, everybody! And by the way, I'm Ms. Marvel!'

"We will not get caught."

"Because 'birthday video' is quick thinking. Let's chat again later, then?" Hopeful.

She smiled.

"Sure."

He smiled.

"Aiiiight, signing off, Captain."

Just before he logged off he changed their Chat box name to 'OTP'. 'Finally figured out what it means'. She thought he was a dork, and, then again, so was she.


	4. Imminent Danger

It was still early in the morning and yet Kamala found herself already up and enthusiastic in a bus on its way to a comicon. There was a comforting and exciting emotion about in the air that she could hardly keep still, even when she'd just met the people with her for the first time. Well, technically she had met them before, online in the Captain Marvel fans community, still there was that rush.

The girl who had seated herself beside Kamala had just gushed about a really good Captain Marvel photographer/fan's Pictagram account to her when her phone buzzed from her pocket. Sam's promised phone call.

"Just wanted to help you start your day on a good note--by letting you hear my voice! Hey there!" he said and then sang a hearty "You're welcome!"

"I hope you know that corniness has little effect on me apart from a face palm. I hope you were expecting I'd do one," she responded, not making the face palm. "And it's already good anyway. Are you currently flying?"

She could hear the wind attempting to make his voice inaudible. Nova shouted at his cellphone and strained to hear her responses. She resisted the urge to shout too.

"Yeah I, whoa…flock of birds. Sorry!" The birds squawked at him in protest. "You on your way?"

"In the bus and ready for take-off."

"Have fun then, Captain Cutie." She can't be sure how but she could hear the self-satisfied grin in the way he said it and the sad attempt at a wink. "I gotta go. Nova promised some folks down at the park he'd help them fix a jungle gym he—er, someone else must've accidentally blasted during target practice."

"You're so obviously giving me openings to make fun of you, aren't you?"

"If it means somewhere out there you're smiling," he said, "I try. Space Boyfriend, over and out."

The bus started moving a few minutes after that and she had just taken a quick selfie for her stories, typing "OTW to a Comicon!" and added an excited sticker. She figured she had enough time to doze off if she wanted to, but the excitement probably wouldn’t let her. But they were barely out of the city when the bus lurched and came to a stop.

Her heart raced. There was something different about this. The other passengers—mostly the youth, she couldn't help noting—continued their excited chatter as if nothing was amiss. And maybe it should've been the case, except someone from the seat in front of hers suddenly made their voice louder.

"Hey, so you know the Champions?"

"Champions?"

"You know those wannabe teen heroes that went trending a couple of times this year?"

"What about them?"

Kamala frowned as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear to listen better. Something was off. Maybe it was hero's intuition. If Miles had Spidey senses, she might as well call this one her own version of it. It wasn't paranoia, whoever they were they were…acting. The way they talked was rehearsed, but why?

“Well,” the person continued, despite everyone else ignoring them, “I think they’re a joke!”

Someone from the opposite side of the bus stood up, a boy with a nose ring and a cap on in reverse. He glared at who Kamala assumed was the first speaker.

“Much as we encourage the respect of each and everyone’s opinions here, I don’t think this is the time and place to be saying all that.”

“Oh, yeah? And why’s that?” They were practically begging for a scene. Or, worse, a fight. The bus was cramped and it still hasn’t moved again. Other people were starting to notice the tension at the front while others questioned the sudden stop.

“Hey! What’s going on? What’s the hold-up?”

“We’ll miss the opening!” a girl in Spider-Man cosplay said.

“We’re going to a convention that _celebrates_ heroes,” the boy with the nose ring said, loud and clear. Whoever the hater was kept themselves in their seat. “The Champions are internet famous because they are heroes. They’re doing their best and their intentions are good. You considering them as wannabes is beside the point and benefits no one and does nothing. Now is not the time for you to spread your hate.”

“Hate huh? Let’s see how you’ll feel when the Champions’ lame-o superhero work fails to save you.”

“Whu—?”

There was a creaking sound and the bus tipped a bit to the side. For a moment, Kamala expected it to start moving again. It did. The scene at the front of the bus was moving up, up, and up.

 _They_ were moving up, up, and up.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s happening?”

“ATTENTION EVERYONE! EYES UP HERE!” It came from outside.

Kamala tried to stand up but the bus was shaky. She gripped on the back of the seat in front of her and glimpsed a blonde boy with shades on. It looked like he was standing right in front of the bus, but if there was any fear in him about it he didn’t show it. His safety wouldn’t really be the first concern you would think of upon seeing him, but your own. The boy also had fire coming out of his hands.

It seemed like there was a beat when everyone who noticed him must’ve just stared at this guy, brains just processing what it could all mean, before someone screamed in panic. Kamala recognized this guy from a database of research (and stalking) the Champions did on the Freelancers. It was _Hotness._ Which meant the other Freelancers could be here too.

“Why is the bus shaking? What is going on?”

Kamala struggled to push herself against the window, while keeping a grip on her seat. It was the kind of thing that would make a heart either race out of control or stop for a couple of seconds. It looked like the piece of road, the ground below their bus, just got ripped off of the city and they were being moved left and right in midair. It wasn’t that high up, but enough to be dangerous. A girl in a jumper, sporting big purple gloves and an uncaring, almost bored, expression was somewhere below. Her arms were raised and directed at them. It was Geokinesis, and it was another Freelancer, _Crush._

The person who had screamed earlier continued to cry even as his seatmate tried to calm shush him because someone tall and intimidating had just stood up and placed herself in the front of the bus for all to see. She shook off a cap and threw aside a heavy looking jacket to show off muscled biceps and an armor-like suit. It was _Might._ What struck Kamala was how, at the front of her suit, there seemed to be an exact replica of the Champions’ symbol. A symbol that was for the public domain, she remembered and had her heart sink. What are they up to…?

As it turned out the girl shushing the guy who was freaking out wasn’t doing any good, because her grip on his shoulder only made him cry more, even as she stood up with a self-satisfied grin. Everyone else looked at the two who looked most nonchalant in this off and tense situation, only now noticing that they held themselves up as if they were better than everyone else. The second girl was _Panic_ , Kamala recalled _._ She was probably inducing the anxiety somehow. It was just on that guy, but who knew if she’d eventually spread it around the bus. And Sam said memorizing potential villain names and powers were a waste of time.

This was not good.

Kamala kept herself scarce in her seat as she felt her pocket for her phone. Might was already pacing the bus with ease, eyeing each and every scared teenage face there. What did the Freelancers want? Hijacking a bus didn’t seem like their usual MO.

“So you all know the Champions, right?” For some reason she was putting on a mask that covered half of her face as she said this. Masks didn’t seem like their thing, either.

No one answered.

“Anyone got a phone? Come on, you’re millennials. You should be recording this.”

No one responded at first, but Might stomped on the floor so hard that most of the kids started flipping out their phones in a mad scramble. Kamala used this as an excuse to start messaging Amadeus or Viv.

Suddenly another person, induced with fear from Panic, sat up and made an outburst causing all phones to point toward her.

“It’s the Champions! Somebody help us! They’ve hijacked our bus!”

Not good. Not good. Not good.

* * *

“Sam, urgent mission.” It was Amadeus’ voice in the intercom of his helmet. Sam was in the middle of installing the jungle gym while a few other volunteers instructed him where to put what in. He hovered in midair as he answered, almost too dramatically and in a good mood despite the grunt work.

“How urgent? I’m kind of in the middle of something.” The last time Amadeus used the ‘urgent mission’ card was when he tricked them all into going up to HQ to do Ms. Marvel’s simulation training session. Kamala purposely skipped mentioning it to him and had Amadeus do it because she knew he’d weasel out of it. Much as Sam liked his girlfriend her ideas of hero training tended to be over the top and tiring. The lazy part of Sam sometimes did a little protest to the responsible boyfriend part of him, but at the end of the day it was an excuse to see Ms. Marvel happy. She would understand this time, though, she knew he was doing an errand.

“It’s not training this time, I swear. There’s trouble in Jersey City.”

“Jersey City?” Ms. Marvel’s domain, but she otherwise preoccupied, no doubt. Sam glanced at his building companions, motioned that he was talking to someone and that he’d get back to them in a second.

“A bus full of teenagers on their way to a comicon just got hijacked —“ Sam shot into the sky like a rocket even before Amadeus finished his sentence. He was able to hear a blur of the rest. “--a group of super powered people associating themselves with the Champions.”

What are the odds that of all the buses in her city it was hers? A bus packed with other people, she couldn’t possibly be expected to defend herself without, let alone those with her. Certainly without risking Ms. Marvel’s identity. She was trapped. Could she be panicking? He was panicking. She had the power but was trapped, unable to use it. Knowing Kamala she’d probably do something anyway to get her attention and in danger. Beads of sweat formed at the sides of Sam’s forehead, and beneath the Nova helmet it wouldn’t be apparent that his expression was due to a numbing sense of anxiety brewing. His worry tended to move quickly into aggravation and feeding his determination.

All the while he managed to calm his mind enough to listen to the rest of Amadeus’ report.

“Viv and Spider-Man are on their way too. Ms. Marvel’s the one who notified me about it first, so she’s probably already there.”

The whole flight from Carefree to Jersey felt twice as long as usual, despite the fact that he was already used to the route he’d often take to get there. The commotion was easy enough to spot from a Nova’s eye view. Police cars have gathered, traffic to one side of the road, and curious people were being herded away. The bus was on top of a piece of the ground and was hovering higher and higher like that anime movie Castle in the Sky. He caught sight of a girl raising her hands up, all her focus directed at it and suggesting she was the super-powered culprit. As he flew closer he made a quick scan of the windows.

“ _Kamala.”_ He swore under his breath.

Spider-man swung gracefully in a sideways arc, landing on top of a building that was higher than the rising bus. “Nova! Hey!” He called through his intercom. “Viv is trying to get close enough to phase the kids out there one by one, but fire guy keeps coming at her. Have you seen Ms. M?”

“Kamala, no.” It was stupid and he probably should’ve thought before he acted and spoke, but he could see Kamala through the window and she was standing up and saying something. She was talking to a person in a mask. “We gotta go help! My girlfriend is in there!”

“What--? Wait! Nova, no!” On impulse and emotion he went shooting past Spider-Man and collided into the girl controlling the bus or the ground below it. Without thinking.

Spider-Man was able to spring forward and throw enough webs beneath the bus while Viv took on the weight. The teens inside started screaming as their ride adjusted to the movement. A loud sound was heard followed by a beam of red light, as Cyclops shot at the guy with fire hands and away from Viv.

“Wrong move, Nova!” it was Cyclop’s voice in the intercom. “What were you thinking?”

Nova’s face felt flushed as he shuffled away from the slightly unconscious person he’d tackled, slowly realizing he recognized them as one of the Freelancers. He couldn’t find the energy or the sense of priority to say ‘sorry’, even though he knew it was his bad. Instead he said “What’s going on inside?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully I can actually get this finished!! My goal is 7 chapters but if the story isn't done before then or done before then, it may be subject to change. I used references from the Champions comics and obviously since the Freelancers are going to play the villains here. Again, ack, I don’t know if this is out of character or if I’ve got little details and information about the characters wrong. As I wrote this, I had several tabs opened on Wiki pages on these Marvel babies. So, yeah, maybe I tried. If anything, I’m still sticking to the idea that this is sort of an AU of the Champions. I’m sorry not sorry that it’s kind of fluffy or if it will be fluffy in the future, because I intend to make superhero fanfic fluff and with all the awkward, teenage melodrama.
> 
> TO GOD BE THE GLORY!


End file.
